FIRST Robotics 2010 Championship Photo Gallery

The 2011 FIRST Robotics national championships are just getting underway in St. Louis's Edward Jones Dome. Here are some of our favorite mentors and teams from the 2010 competition—and their thoughts on what FIRST means to them. For more on how this year's game is designed, look for the special FIRST Robotics feature in PM's May iPad app, in the iTunes store now.

Aluminum Narwhals

Aluminum Narwhals

In 2010, the Aluminum Narwhals were a Rookie All-Star team from Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego. "We started out with only eight kids this year," says senior Kai Kuspa. "Now we're up to 60. We’re the biggest group on campus!" Because they assembled their winning robot in someone's garage, local politicians pledged to build the school a machine shop.

C Company

C Company

Katherine Dougan, a program manager at Northrop Grumman, is a mentor for C Company from Pasadena, Md. She helps the students create a business plan and with public outreach. "As an engineer, communications is extremely important," she says. "One of the things we try to push is the 20-second elevator speech. If someone comes up to you and says 'What's FIRST about?', or 'What do you do on the team?', how can you answer that in 20 seconds and convey your point?" Engineers tend to dive straight into the details, says Dougan, who is trained as a chemical engineer herself. "Not too many people always want to know what the gear ratios are."